Recent Research

Bielory L. and Heimall J. Review of complementary and alternative medicine in
treatment of ocular allergies. Current opinion in Allergy and Clinical
Immunology 3(5):395-9

Ocular allergy is a common complaint of allergy sufferers, many of whom may
choose to use complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of these
symptoms. In this review, the researchers assess major complementary and
alternative medicine modalities including herbal therapies, acupuncture,
homeopathy, alternative immunotherapy and behavior modification for evidence of
their effectiveness in the treatment of ocular allergy symptoms.

They found that certain herbs including Euphrasia officinalis, Petasites
hybridus and Argemone mexicana have been evaluated in control studies in the
treatment of ocular allergy. Honey is no more effective than placebo in the
treatment of ocular allergy. Acupuncture used regularly has demonstrated some
positive trends in ocular allergy sufferers. Homeopathy has shown conflicting
results in the treatment of ocular allergy, while alternative forms of
immunotherapy have been shown to develop immunologic tolerogenic effects in the
control of the condition.

Several forms of complementary and alternative medicine have been studied for
their effectiveness in treatment of ocular allergy symptoms. The researchers
conclude that further research is needed to assess mechanisms of action and to
establish practice guidelines for using these modalities.

Stronger
Needling Elicits Greater Blood Flow

Sandberg, M.
et al. Effects of acupuncture on skin and muscle blood flow in healthy subjects.
European Journal of Applied Physiology, June 24.

In 14 healthy female subjects, the effects of acupuncture on
skin and muscle blood flow were investigated using a non-invasive
custom-designed probe and photoplethysmography (PPG). In randomized order, two
to seven days apart, three modes of needle stimulation were performed on the
anterior aspect of the tibia: superficial insertion (SF), insertion into the
anterior tibial muscle (Mu), and insertion into the muscle including
manipulation of the needle in order to elicit a distinct sensation of
distension, heaviness or numbness (DeQi). Compared to the control situation,
muscle blood flow increased following both Mu and DeQi for 20 min, with the
latter being more pronounced for the initial 5 minutes. Skin blood flow
increased for 5 min following DeQi. However, no increase was found following SF.
The results indicate that the intensity of the needling is important, since the
DeQi stimulation resulted in the most pronounced increase in both skin and
muscle blood flow.

Complementary pain management is very popular for women in
labor who wish to avoid pharmacological or invasive methods. The authors
reviewed existing evidence to study whether alternative medicine is actually
effective in this setting. They based their criteria on whether the mothers were
satisfied with their experience, whether additional pharmacological pain relief
was used, and whether there were any complications involving the mother or
child. A small body of literature indicated that mothers found acupuncture and
hypnosis useful for moderating their pain. Aromatherapy, music and audio
analgesia had no effects on the women.